Determination

First Day of School, 2008

When Ella was three years old, she took her favorite stuffed dog to nursery school for show and tell.  The rule routine was that, when you arrived, you put your show and tell item in a basket and it stayed there until show and tell.

When I picked her up, her teacher apologized and said she felt really bad for making Ella cry. 'What happened?', I asked.

First Day of School, 2009

Ella couldn't leave her precious puppy in the basket.  She wanted to share nursery school with him.  So the teacher gave her a warning, took the puppy, and put it back in the basket.  Later, Ella took him from the basket again to play.  So the teacher took the puppy back again and put him up high on a shelf where Ella couldn't reach him.


So Ella took a chair, pulled it over to the shelving, and tried to get her puppy down.  I don't remember what her punishment was.  Honestly, I really think that seeing her puppy up high and not being able to get him back was punishment enough.  She was reprimanded.  She cried.

First Day of School, 2010

I don't know why I thought of this story this morning.  Maybe because this story is so classic Ella.  I'm sure she comes by her strong-willedness (I know that's not really a word - what is the right one?) genetically.  And her passion as well.  And we struggle with it every day but we also love her more because of it.

She still will do almost anything to get what she wants.  We're working on that.  But how do you temper that without breaking the piece that will be so important in the future?  Our focus right now is teaching her to think about how her actions affect (actually looked up on dictionary.com if that was an a or an e) others.

First Day of School, 2011

And even though as I drove her home from nursery school that day I talked with her about how important it is to listen to your teachers and follow directions, I still know that she was only three and she wasn't hurting anyone by wanting to hold her puppy.

Summer Is Not Over Yet

Over the last couple days, I have found myself getting sucked back into my studio.  This is a good thing - especially since there were many moments over the summer where I believed I was ready to put eieio to bed.  I think, though, that that had more to do with the sweltering heat in my studio and close to zero time for work than a lack of desire.  For the first time this summer, I've had a babysitter come in for a couple hours just so that I could get some work done.  And I have gotten some work done.  Now all I want to do is more...

But there is still a little bit of summer vacation left.  And I don't want to waste that. Ella starts next Tuesday and Ollie starts the week after that and then there will be plenty of time.  I have a little mother/daughter time this morning and as much as I would love to take her fabric shopping, I know that that really isn't the best way to spend our time.  Some day it will be, but not today.

So, there is a brand new batch of Lunchbox Napkins in the shop.  And hopefully another Reversible Roundabout and some Trick or Treat bags coming soon.  And after September 12th things should get a lot more regular around here.

Today I have a lunch date and some hair accessory purchasing to do with my 2nd grader.  2nd grader.  That just blows my mind.  And a Kindergartener, which blows it even farther.  I'll wait until they are both settled in and I am sitting alone in my house to think about everything that comes next...

This Boy

This boy

who wanted his head shaved but settled for a mohawk,

who has no interest in starting Kindergarten next month because he would love to stay in nursery school forever,

who requires more patience right now than I sometimes feel I have,

who knows exactly how he wants things and cries when his young hands can't comply.

I've said it before - It's so hard to be a little kid...

Zealand Falls on the Appalachian Trail

My first year out of undergrad, I applied to grad school.  Just one school in a program that I thought would give me what I needed to become a Child Life Specialist.  While waiting to hear, I decided that if I didn't get in I was going to Thru-hike the Appalachian Trail.

I actually started buying my supplies (there was an EMS right down the street from work) - a pack, a sleeping bag (that I still use), a 2-person tent.  I attended a workshop on what you needed to do to prepare.  Then I got into the program I had applied to.

When I graduated high school, my family went on a backpacking trip (my parents, 5 kids age 7-17, and an Irish Setter).  We travelled up to the White Mountains and camped somewhere around Zealand Falls or Thoreau Falls.  We have some great pictures of us five kids out on a flat rock in the middle of the Falls.  I remember it raining.  I remember the dog carrying its own food in saddle bags.  I remember stopping by the AMC's Zealand Falls Hut and thinking it would be a really cool way to do it.

I've done a couple shorter sections of the AT over the years, including a solo trip in NY state where I camped out on a summit in a thunder and lightning storm (yes, not the brightest idea).  I've been excited to take my kids backpacking for a very long time.

This trip didn't let me down.  The falls were beautiful.  The complaining was kept to a minimum when the kids took the lead.  The weather was perfect.  The Hut Croo gave us the bunk room for four.  With a door.  Instead of mixing us into one of the bunk rooms for 16.  We only needed to hike 3 miles in to the hut.  A nice mix of meandering trail and straight up over rocks and boulders.

Even more importantly, the kids are ready to go again.  While backpacking again will need to wait a little while, I think I am going to attempt to take them camping by myself over the next couple weeks.  That way I get to start the fire - an ongoing battle between me and The Dad...

Camping in the White Mountains

We have camped with our kids since they were babies.  Sometimes easily, sometimes counting the hours until daylight when we can pack the car back up and head home because she just. won't. sleep...

While we did lots of backpacking before we had kids, we had only done car-camping with them until this summer.  We found great State Parks and learned to be particular about sites - the outer ring, along a river always being quietest and best.  And we waited.  Until they were old enough to hike in, carrying their own (light) pack.

We decided they were ready this summer, having just turned 5 and 7 this spring.

When I was in elementary school, living in Minneapolis, my Dad decided that we were ready to learn how to ski.  There were lots of small places for skiing in Minnesota but he believed that for us to really learn how to ski, we had to go to Vermont.  Two parents, a grandmother, and five kids (the youngest still an infant) in a large Dodge van driving half way across the country to learn how to ski.  I've always kind of laughed at that, but now I understand.

For us, to take them backpacking for the first time, we had to take them to the White Mountains.

After much deliberation and research, we decided to spend the first and third of three nights at a campground and the second at an AMC Hut up on the Appalachian Trail.  These pictures are from the campground (where we camped right next to the Pemigewasset River).  It was beautiful.  We could have stayed there for a week and easily filled our days.

The hike up into the mountains and onto the AT was even more amazing.  Next post!

Vacation

We're heading out on a little family vacation today.

Mountains, Ocean, and some famous Cannolis along the way.

See you back here in a week!

Toleration

I forgot how busy it is to have the kids home on summer vacation.  Busy if I don't want to stick them in front of the television.  Busy if I want to stay somewhat sane and minimize the whining and the fighting.

Ollie finished his first week of camp so both are home this week.  What I should be doing is packing and preparing for our week long vacation we head out for on Saturday.  The one that takes us car camping, backpacking, and to the beach.  With about 20  hours spent in the car along the way.

We haven't done much hiking this Spring, so I thought we should get a little more practice in before slapping packs on their backs and heading into the White Mountains National Forest.  So we headed over to our local trail system yesterday.  We went a different direction this time, weaving around some trail construction and making our way in whatever the direction the kids were feeling.

Have I mentioned that I am a rule follower?  I am also a map follower.  I had no idea where we were going or if the trail we were following was a loop.  I knew we could turn around if we wanted to and that we couldn't go too far without hitting a major road.  So it was kind of fun feeling a little lost.

"I promise you we are not lost," I told the kids. "We can always turn around and go back the way we came.  But right now I have absolutely no idea where we are."  I think this thrilled them a little bit.  And then, around a turn, we came upon this:

A statue, perched on a precipice, out in the middle of nowhere.  It was a bit spooky, but amazing at the same time.  Evidently, the piece is Toleration, purchased at the Centennial Exhibition and placed up here, in what was to become part of Fairmount Park, in 1883. 

There is so much to be explored, though from now on both kids will wear pants when out in the woods - we did find a tick on Ollie last night.  Ugh. They enjoy it, though, after the first 20 minutes of complaining and the bribe of a popsicle when we get home.  They enjoy it more when they can take the lead, so we will do a little more 'not quite getting lost' this summer and see what else we can find out in those woods...

Packing the Camera

I have started carrying my camera around again.

I don't even remember why I stopped.  I think the batteries died at one point.  And I was looking for some way to make my bag a little lighter.

But now with summer here, it's back in there.  Ready to grab when I see the moment.  As long as I remember to periodically charge the batteries.

Now I just need to take that extra step and print some of these!

Sour Cherry Almond Muffins

While it was fun to pick the cherries, I had no idea what I was going to do with them.  The extent of my sour cherry knowledge in baking is the amazing Sour Cherry Danish at The Baker's Wife in Minneapolis that I was not even going to attempt to replicate.

My friend Anna gave me a sour cherry almond muffin recipe with the cherries.  I loved the flavor combo idea but was looking for something a little healthier (they had lots of sour cream and butter which I'm sure made them taste all the better!)...  Instead I adapted the Strawberry Cupcakes recipe from Lindsay Nixon's Happy Herbivore cookbook and am so happy with how they came out.

Here you go:

Ingredients:
2 cups of white wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup raw sugar
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1 overflowing tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups pitted sour cherries
1 handful sliced almonds
1 handful chocolate chips (optional)

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in one bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk applesauce, sugar, milk, and extract until well blended.

Gradually pour the dry mixture into the wet, stirring until just combined.

Scoop into muffin tins, top with sliced almonds, and bake for 15-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center come out clean.

These are especially good right out of the oven when the cherries are still warm.

Enjoy!

Mama Camp

Summer vacation has officially begun around here.  Ollie jumped right into a week of camp yesterday, so Ella and I are having a little bit of Mama Camp this week.  I forget how rarely now we just have regular one-on-one time and  how important it is.  He's only in camp from 9-1, but that gives the girl and I a solid couple hours.

Today we attempted to pick one more batch of organic strawberries this morning at Maple Acres but they were pretty much gone.  We did pick some yummy fresh snap peas, though.

And while paying at the farmstand, Ella saw buckets of Zinnias and begged oohed and ahhed for flowers.  You can pick your own there or buy 5 for $1.50.  The buckets Ella eyed were 'Yesterday's Zinnia's' and were $10 per bucket.  Hmmm...  Yes, we came home with a bucket's worth.  Inspiring me to think about finding another vase or two this summer to keep on hand.

I told her they were older flowers and wouldn't last very long.  She said "They don't have to last long.  I just want to look at them for a little while."  There's a lesson there, I think.